Assessment of the child protection system in Iraq/Kurdistan

Assessment of the child protection system in Iraq/Kurdistan

Background • Diakonia in Iraq/Kurdistan since 1994 • Operating 3 centers for social protection/child protection • Improve capacities and respect for child protection

Assessment in two phases • 1) A child protection systems assessment covering legislation, procedures and needs for capacity building • 2) How to improve the quality of work performed by the three centers

Iraq/Kurdistan • Federal entity since 2005 • Population almost 4 million • 36% 0-14 years, 4% above 63 • More than 50% are under 20 years

Child protection systems assessment in Iraq/Kurdistan • Legal framework • Coordination mechanisms • Available services • Human and financial resources • Children’s and parents’ access to service

Constraints and limitations • Not possible to visit services providers • Not enough interviews with civil society • Not possible to meet with extremely vulnerable children • Sample group of children and parents came from Dohuk • Lack of reliable statistics

International legal framework • The CRC (1994) • The ILO Conventions 138 and 182 (1985 and 2001) • Not party to the two Optional Protocols of the CRC • Not party to the Conventions on the Status of Refugees or Statelessness

National legal frameworkThe Iraqi Constitution (2005) endorses the CRC • State and family the main duty bearers • Economic exploitation prohibited • All forms of violence and abuse in the family, school and society prohibited • All forms of psychological and physical torture prohibited

A Kurdistan Child Rights Law in process • With UNICEF support • Currently children’s rights and responsibilities are defined in the Juvenile Law, the Social Law and the Labour Law.

Interviews Ministries of • Labour and Social Affairs (and general directorate in Dohuk) • Interiors • Justice • Education • Health (and general directorate in Dohuk) Five NGOs (partners of Diakonia) Parents and children (in Dohuk)

UNICEF • Study on VAC • Develop internal policies for law encorcement • Support Child Helplines • Mine risk education, psychosocial support

Questionnaire for ministries • The definition of child protection • The legal framework • The services provided in terms of prevention, detection, reporting and response • The coordination • The human resources

MoLSAExample of matrixWhat are the services provided? Who provides them?

Coordination

MoLSA • Juvenile law: ”Prevent the phenomena of juvenile offense by protecting the juvenile from delinquency” • The social law: nothing but 2 small references to children with disabilities • The child labour law

Directorate of Social Care and Development: • Special care (”orphanages”) • Centers for children at risk of delinquency (street children) • No detection of children in need of social support • No reporting mechanism • Plan to establish Help-lines (with support from UNICEF) Directorate of Labour • No programme to address child labour Directorate of Reformatory: • In charge of institutions for children in conflict with the law in close collaboration with Ministry of Interior

Ministry of Interiors • Protects the population from crime and terrorism • Juvenile Police stations detect children in conflict with the law or children at risk of delinquency • Child protection is a family matter • Need for capacity building on how to talk to and interrogate minors

Ministry of Justice • Juvenile courts – minimum age 11 If sentenced • Juvenile reformatory If delinquent • Rehabilitation centers • Parents risk to loose custody

Ministry of Education • Law prohibiting physical and phsycological punishment • Law on free and compulsory education • No mechanism for detection, response or referral

Ministry of Health • No protocol for detection, reporting and assistance – doctors are prohibited • Children not allowed to go to the hospital without parent • Need for capacity building on how to talk to children, help them overcome traumas

Focus group discussions • Fathers (10) • Mothers (36) • Boys (19) • Girls (8) Children aged between 4 and17

Discussions focused on: • Definition of child protection • national and international law • access to and opinion about available reporting mechanism • access to and opinion about responsive services

Example of matrix • Do you use these reporting mechanisms? • Which specific cases of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation you think should be reported?

Fathers • Concerned about protection in school • Law against domestic violence is humiliating and increase divorce rate • Better to address root causes by teaching children about non-violence

Mothers • Aware of law, but limited knowledge • VAC is culturally accepted and mothers are the main perpetrators • If a child is punished in school he/she deserves it • Protection issues in the home cannot be reported

Children • Not aware of a law on child protection but some had heard of the CRC • All aware of the juvenile law • All had been subject to physical punishment in school - report to parents • Most violence takes place between children

Summary • Violence against children is a family affair • The system in place is a child correction system • Children are perceived as perpetrators not victims of rights violations • Protection is ”education, health, food”

Summary cont… • Reporting and referral mechanism do not exist – only for the detection and response of children in conflict with the law • Lack of specialised staff on child protection within MoLSA • General lack of capacity to understand child protection and knowledge about the law

Summary cont… • Lack of disaggregated data • Lack of awareness among parents and children on children’s rights, the negative impact of violence, alternative discipline, how to prevent exposure to risks • Insufficient coordination

Reflections • Did we ask the right questions? • What were the traditional protection mechanisms? • The current law reinforces the current belief • The ocean of preventive measures

To be continued…..Thank you for your attention!

Assessment of the child protection system in Iraq/Kurdistan